International English (idea)

It has become my personal campaign of tilting at windmills to make standard American English more international in character. To do this I started using words that I thought more logical (or just plain sound better) from British English. Like crisps instead of potato chips. Hopefully I will be able to pick up a Transatlantic accent as well.

Join me! After all it is crazy, but gosh it can be fun too. Plus being eccentric is charming when trying to get a date. (Okay, I don’t know that this actually works that well, but you never know...)

A list of the words I prefer from my years of watching BBC programs:

"Chips" instead of "French fries" (Though I still use French fries to refer to the thin French cut chips like McDonald’s serves.)

Bloody- I just like this mild expletive. It does not sound as old fashioned as using "heck" or "darn". I must admit I also like using exclamations translated from other languages too. They’re just fun for me. Like "Go to the Devil’s Grandmother!" (Russian)

Chat up- This is a lovely idiom that has no direct equivalent in American English as far as I know. For those not in the know it means to chat flirtatiously.

Hedgerow- My understanding is that this means any hedge in England. I might use this word for a narrow band of trees and bushes, but we don’t have many things like those here in America.

Jam- I understand that this is the word for any Jelly in England. I already use this word to refer to a sugary type of preserved crushed fruit. Like my mom’s strawberry Jam and Jelly when referring to the stuff made with just the juice of a fruit.

Pub- A pub is very different from the American bar. For one thing they welcome people who are not there to drink alcohol. It would be more like what is sometimes called a 'family' bar over here. So I don’t use this word, even for the bars over here that call themselves pubs.

Personally I see International English not so much about limiting the use of words. (Except in a very few cases where I refuse to use a dishonest or clumsy word.) But to expand the vocabulary of English speakers as widely as possible. I know this does not make English easier to learn, but I do not see any way to reduce the language except by natural attrition.

I have no doubt that eventually some parts of the expanded vocabulary will become less commonly used. But if it a directed process coming from some sort of word police it will be resisted. What will keep the langauge even as it contracts is international communication.

So I think the goal in the short term is to introduce each other to new words from different parts of the English speaking world. I am starting with British terms for ease of access and will move on to more obscure ones as I do more research.